Against the background of digital transformation processes that are currently changing the world of work, this paper examines general digital competences of beginning trainees in commercial vocational education and training (VET) programs. We are particularly interested in factors influencing digital competence profiles. From survey data including…

Purpose: This paper aims to analyze the extent to which education for sustainable development (ESD) training enhances university teachers' professional competence and whether it has the same effect in the digital as in the face-to-face format. Design/methodology/approach: A training concept was developed based on the professional action competence…

In Germany, continuing education (CE) is, to a large extent, controlled by municipalities ("Kommunen"). Municipalities have published an increasing number of education reports in recent years. These are intended as steering instruments for local education policy. Given that municipalities and the districts they represent differ in their…

Some research has investigated the big five personality dimensions among gifted individuals, but these individual studies have provided inconclusive results. The current meta-analysis examined the nature of the relationship between the big five dimensions and giftedness among individuals. Hedge's unbiased g was used as the effect size metric, and…

(1) Background: The equality of life chances in Germany is often assessed along the lines of a west/east and urban/rural differentiation in which the latter usually perform worse. One currently popular proposal for addressing these inequalities is to strengthen cultural and arts education. The question arises to what extent regional…

Estimates of shared environmental influence on educational attainment (EA) using the Classical Twin Design (CTD) have been enlisted as genetically sensitive measures of unequal opportunity. However, key assumptions of the CTD appear violated for EA. In this study we compared CTD estimates of shared environmental influence on EA with estimates from…

In large-scale assessments, performance differences across different groups are regularly found. These group differences (e.g., gender differences) are often relevant for educational policy decisions and measures. However, the formation of these group differences usually remains unclear. We propose an approach for investigating this formation by…

Context: For young people with a migrant background in Germany transition from school to company-based vocational training is much more difficult than for non-migrants. This remains true, when data is controlled for the lower performance of young migrants in general education. In this paper we investigate if and how far the chances of transition…

Mastering distance teaching imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic was challenging for many teachers. In the present cross-sectional survey, we assessed the level of stress that teachers experienced during the lockdown of schools in Germany, their strategies to cope with it, and external and internal barriers for distance teaching with an online…

Against the backdrop of an increasingly interconnected world as well as the growing role of inter- and supranational organizations, policy transfer has become a widespread phenomenon, not least in the realm of education. While policy transfer research has focused predominantly on isolated education sectors, less is known about the overall…

The present contribution illuminates the initial developments in the adoption of Complex Instruction in Germany, where the implementation of the approach has just begun. It gives insights into a teacher education project, a theatre project, and a planned project at secondary schools.

Rapid response behaviour, a type of test disengagement, cannot be interpreted as a true indicator of the targeted constructs and may compromise score accuracy as well as score validity for interpretation. Rapid responding may be due to multiple factors for diverse populations. In this study, using Programme for International Student Assessment…

The present study explores the perceptions of teachers about the engagement of immigrant and non-immigrant parents in preschool. Data were drawn from a larger evaluation study of a government initiative for preschools in Germany, which was designed to foster inclusive pedagogy and parent cooperation. In these analyses, teachers' perceptions of the…

Adult migrants in all OECD countries are a diverse group, with different profiles and levels of education. Even if they hold tertiary degrees, they are more likely to have poorer labour market outcomes, including lower earnings. Participation in the labour market is more difficult for foreign-born adults who arrived at a later age and acquired…

Too many earlier attempts to use R&D investment for 'levelling up' have started with big ambitions but not survived long enough to deliver economic benefit. The purpose of regional R&D investment needs greater clarity. This report unpicks assumptions about the spread of research funding across the UK and finds them wanting. Comparable…